Like Sunday Morning
by Red Ranger Kei
Summary: When there's nothing to do, everyone resorts to tormenting Kyuu in their own way. Drama-verse. Ryuu/Kyuu, sort of.


**Authorly preamble or something**: Born of silly discussions after watching the drama with my best friend, filled with in-jokes and half-kidding wishful thinking that proves either good can come from a bad idea or that I am the queen of delusions of grandeur. Heck yeah.

* * *

**Like Sunday Morning**

"Why were you eating ramen in here anyway?" Kyuu wailed.

"I was hungry!" Kinta replied defensively, holding his half-empty cup of ramen to his chest and frowning.

"You couldn't at least wait until you were sitting down to start eating?" Kyuu lamented.

"Like I said, I was hungry!" Kinta shot back. "Anyway, it's not _my_ fault Kazuma has all these cords everywhere!"

Kazuma glared. "It's not _my_ fault you don't watch where you're walking!" He shot a sharp glance at Kyuu. "And _you_ smell like cheap noodles."

Kinta leaned in to examine Kyuu closely. "_And_ you look like an idiot," he added helpfully.

Kyuu sighed. "Yes I'm aware of that but thank you for your input anyway, Mr. Doesn't Look Where He's Going and Ends Up Tripping and Spilling Ramen on Little Boys."

"That's an awfully long nickname," Kinta commented doubtfully.

"You could have borrowed some of my clothes," Megu reminded Kyuu. "We're about the same size."

"I know, and it's not that I don't appreciate the offer," and Kyuu really did seem quite sincere, "but I just don't think I have the legs for any of your dresses."

Kyuu was starting to wonder if he'd have been better off finding out for certain, though, as it seemed unlikely that female attire could be much worse than the change of clothes Kazuma had loaned him. What their resident techie managed to pull off easily looked fairly ridiculous on Kyuu's scrawny frame – he simply wasn't cut out for the mesh-and-chains look. He tugged at the low neckline of his borrowed crimson shirt as if willing it to creep higher and wondered if it had been a good idea to let Kazuma talk him into donning the matching arm warmers (though he was beginning to doubt they could actually be called such, being made completely out of black mesh, eyelets, and thin black lace).

"Here, maybe this'll help," Megu suggested in a too-sweet tone, and Kyuu was just deciding that pretty much anything would be an improvement on his current attire when she pulled from her costume rack a pair of black cat ears.

"_No_, Megu," Kyuu gasped, taking a step backward.

"Come on, they'll look cute," Megu said, her voice still a little too sweet, and advanced purposefully.

Kyuu backed up further and nearly fell over when he walked into Kinta.

"Careful!" Kinta exclaimed, holding his ramen cup high with one hand to prevent further jostling and dropping the other onto Kyuu's shoulder first to steady him and then to hold him in place while Megu placed the cat ears atop Kyuu's head with a satisfied grin. "Adorable," Kinta assessed approvingly.

"Great," Kyuu sighed, hanging his head, "now I'm a meshy catboy."

"An idiotic-looking meshy catboy," Ryuu corrected and Kyuu looked up quickly, startled first by Ryuu's decision to contribute to a scene Kyuu would have though Ryuu would find beneath him and then by Ryuu's expression. For the first time in Kyuu's memory an amused half-smile adorned Ryuu's face, replacing his usual resemblance to an adorable fluffy bunny that wanted desperately to smack the crap out of someone.

"Yeah, thanks," Kyuu replied in the most deadpan tone he could muster, unsure how to react. He watched cautiously as Ryuu closed his book and set it on the table, stood, and walked toward him. When Kyuu tried to back up he found Kinta's hand still on his shoulder and decided that he had never wanted so badly to be anywhere else.

"The collar's a nice touch," Ryuu decided, smirking, and his fingers closed lightly on the short length of chain that dangled from it.

At that moment Kinta's hand released from its firm grip on Kyuu's shoulder and, breathing a quiet sigh of relief, Kyuu attempted to step backward but found quickly that the cause of his immobility had not been removed so much as it had changed hands. Ryuu's grip on the chain was firmer than it had appeared, and Kyuu nearly gagged when the collar did not move with him.

"Come on, don't tease," Kyuu laughed nervously in an undertone. "Let go."

"But Kinta's right," Ryuu replied innocently, "you're adorable." His eyes sparkled with something akin to malice. "Come on, give us a 'nya'."

Somewhere behind him Kyuu heard Megu giggle, and the steady tapping of keys that had been coming from Kazuma's direction ceased.

"Ryuu, this isn't funny." Although Kyuu had intended to sound exasperated and disapproving, he found himself sounding almost frightened. Ryuu had worked his way well into Kyuu's bubble of personal space. "Just let go, okay?"

"I'll let go," Ryuu assured him, "just give us a 'nya'."

Kyuu weighed his chances of escaping and found them slim; Ryuu had worked the chain around his index and middle fingers several times, bringing his hand uncomfortable close to Kyuu's throat, and there was no doubt in Kyuu's mind that any attempt to escape would not end pleasantly. Sighing softly, he realized he was left with few choices, but it wasn't as if his pride and self-respect hadn't already been destroyed, so...

"Nya," he muttered, defeated.

"Sorry, what was that?" Ryuu remarked innocently, tugging Kyuu closer. "Couldn't hear you."

Swallowing what remained of his pride, Kyuu raised his eyes to meet Ryuu's determinedly, and in a voice loud in volume but soft in tone repeated the monosyllable, allowing it to trail off into a purr to allow neither opportunity nor cause for Ryuu to justify further repetition.

Ryuu swallowed hard and after a brief pause released the chain. Apparently satisfied, he nodded slowly, uttering a few syllables that might have been "adorable" as he tweaked Kyuu's kitty ear before returning to where he'd been sitting. He looked at the table for a moment before looking back up to discover all eyes on him. "Um. What was I doing?" Kinta reached out to indicate the book that sat before Ryuu with his chopsticks. Ryuu looked down. "Oh, right."

Kazuma looked from Ryuu to Kyuu and blinked slowly. "What just happened here?"

Kyuu rubbed his neck distractedly, considering. "I don't know, but could we maybe never mention it again?"

Nodding awkwardly, everyone resumed their previous occupations, and Megu snorted. "Lightweights."


End file.
